We are just having fun reviewing and discussing comic books, graphic novels, manga, anime/animation, music and movies that we have recently read, listened to or watched.
Diana Wynne Jones passed away this last Saturday. Fans of hers will recognize her immediately. However, this post is for the Anime fans that might not realize they know her. Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli adapted Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, which was an Oscar nominated movie in 2004. Our condolences go out to her family and friends.
Librarians that have Trading Card Gamers will want to pass this news along to them. Especially if a patron is into Yu-Gi-Oh as a whole. This June Konami is releasing Yu-Gi-Oh Gold Series 4: Pyramids Edition only to hobby retailers (Comic books stores/Gaming stores). Hobby stores will also get 2 new playmats and there will be a third playmat that will only be available at stores that are Official Tournament stores. Jump over to ICv2 for the brief article.
Anime News Networks site has posted a video from Youtube featuring several Japanese voice actors. These actors lended their talent in a performance to help boost the moral of all of Japan during this time of crisis. Below is the link to see who all took part in the performance and you can see the video below. It takes a little bit of time for the video to download so please be patient.
Librarians take notice. One of the first shojo titles to take hold in the U.S. was Sailor Moon. It has been out of print for several years. The exciting news for fans of Sailor Moon and an opportunity to introduce a whole new generation to Sailor Moon is that Kodansha will be reprinting the title in September. Libraries can replace books that have been missing or fairly worn and for libraries that haven’t had them can pick them up to add to their manga collection. Follow the link to ICv2’s site for the full article.
The following songs are from Anime News Networks’s site that were issued by Sphere and Yoko Kanno and posted on YubTube, for the Earthquake and Tsunami victims. Follow the links below to the actual article as well as audio to listen to the songs or listen to them below.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-03-14/sphere-milky-holmes-support-quake-victims-in-words-song
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-03-13/yoko-kanno-posts-song-to-support-quake-victims
Use the link below to jump to Anime News Network’s site and see what anime and/or manga that have been delayed or cancelled.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-03-15/anime/manga-releases-delayed-cancelled-after-quake
Librarians will know the name Neil Giaman from his novels and young adult novels. However, comic book fans also know him for his writing skills in the comic book medium, most notably from Sandman published through DC Comic Vertigo imprint. Giaman has been signed on to adapt the Ming Dynasty classic novel Journey to the West into a screenplay.
The film is to be shot in China, but will have an English dialogue with Western and Chinese actors. Many of your library’s manga and anime fans will recognize this title since it has been adapted into both mediums. The most popular versions are Dragon Ball and Saiyuki. Therefore, the library will already have patrons interested in this film when it becomes available. Link below to ICv2 for the full article.
Let your library patrons that are interested in comic books and Japanese anime know about the link provided below. Marvel’s site has posted an article and has a couple of images from the new X-Men Anime series that will be coming out in Japan. When this series comes to U.S. shores libraries will need to consider purchasing this to have a great tie-in with United States comic books and Japanese Anime. You could use this to create new fans for both formats.
http://marvel.com/news/story/15331/first_look_x-men_anime_character_art
This will be something to catch the eye of librarians. Anime News Network, linked below, is reporting that Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House has been green-lit to be an animated film. If everything moves forward without any complications the article says that the film will be released in Japan in 2012. This is one that I would say will be translated for the U.S. market. This will be a great promotional tool when it does hit the U.S. to make displays featuring it and the children book series by Osborne to encourage more readership for the series.
Here are two DVD’s that will be of interest to libraries this week that are comic/animation related. The first is AMC’s Walking Dead Season 1, the adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s Image series Walking Dead. This will definitely appeal to your zombie fans. If your library happens to have the collected editions of the comic book series it would be a great tie-in promotional. The other DVD is a little bit more kid friendly. Disney is bring over Studio Ghibli’s adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin’s Tales from Earthsea. Again this DVD can provide a tie-in promotional to LeGuin’s novels.